Doehrman Buba RingDoehrman Buba Ring2024-03-25T05:58:27Zhttps://www.tortslaw.com/feed/atom/WordPress/wp-content/uploads/sites/1603621/2022/05/cropped-Site-icon-DBR-32x32.jpgOn Behalf of Doehrman Buba Ringhttps://www.tortslaw.com/?p=479512024-03-22T19:40:00Z2024-03-22T19:40:00Zsometimes produce fatal injuries. The people involved in a rear-end collision, especially the occupants of the vehicle in front, could easily develop serious injuries because of the crash. The following are the most common injuries associated with rear-end collisions.
Traumatic brain injuries
When one vehicle strikes another from behind, the stopped or slower-moving vehicle often moves abruptly. A driver might hit their head on the steering wheel, and occupants could strike their heads on parts of the vehicle as well. Blunt force trauma from a rear-end collision could lead to bruising or swelling of the brain that might continue to worsen for several days. Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) can produce an assortment of different debilitating symptoms and may have a permanent impact on someone's health and earning potential.
Broken bones
The force of impact can do real damage to the human body, especially if people try to protect themselves. No matter how strong an individual is, their body cannot absorb the force generated when two vehicles collide. Attempts to slow someone down or avoid hitting ahead on a dashboard might involve trying to brace against the imminent impact. People could break bones in their arms, shoulders and legs during car crashes. Broken bones can force someone to take time away from work and may require expensive medical intervention in some cases.
Soft tissue injuries
When a driver doesn't leave adequate following distance between their vehicle and another car in traffic, the people in the front vehicle often pay the price. Even if people don't hit their heads or break bones, the violent motions of the vehicle can cause inflammatory responses in their muscles or connective tissue. Soft tissue injuries, like whiplash, can put people in the hospital. These injuries can cause debilitating levels of pain and prevent people from performing their jobs. In some cases, soft tissue injuries are severe enough to cause long-term symptoms and a significant leave of absence from work.
Those injured in rear-end crashes in Indiana may have grounds for a personal injury lawsuit or an insurance claim. Understanding the more serious injuries possible after a rear-end car crash may help people see the value in pursuing medical care. People who receive a prompt diagnosis have a better chance of obtaining compensation for the injuries generated in a car wreck caused by another’s negligence.]]>On Behalf of Doehrman Buba Ringhttps://www.tortslaw.com/?p=479502024-03-22T00:31:17Z2024-03-22T00:31:17ZMany parties can be liable for commercial crashes
Unfortunately for those involved in semi-truck crashes, determining liability can be a complex process. Factors ranging from the underlying cause of the crash to the employment arrangements for the driver at the wheel when the collision occurred may influence someone's options for compensation.
Many commercial drivers are employees. They work for transportation companies. Under the legal concept of vicarious liability, employers often have a degree of legal and financial responsibility for what their workers do. The people injured in a semi-truck collision can sometimes take legal action against a commercial driver and sometimes may be able to take action against the driver's employer.
Both parties might have a degree of liability in some scenarios. If the transportation company is to blame, a large commercial insurance policy can help offset some of the collision expenses. If the commercial driver is self-employed, they may have their own commercial insurance policy to cover collision costs.
There are even scenarios in which an outside business could be liable. If a client loaded the trailer or if an outside company provides maintenance of a transportation company's fleet vehicles, then those businesses may have liability in cases where issues with the vehicle are the underlying cause of a wreck. Given how complex semi-truck crashes can be and how expensive they can become, it is often of utmost importance that those involved in such wrecks look at all of their options for compensation.
Reviewing the crash report can be a good starting point for those seeking justice after a semi-truck wreck. People may find that a combination of insurance claims and civil lawsuits is often necessary to fully recoup the expenses caused by a semi-truck crash.]]>On Behalf of Doehrman Buba Ringhttps://www.tortslaw.com/?p=479492024-03-21T20:10:06Z2024-03-21T20:10:06ZPeople are living longer and staying more active than ever. However, when seniors suffer injuries, they’re often more serious than they would be for a younger person.
That needs to be considered if an older adult suffers an injury due to someone else’s negligence or actions. That’s true whether it’s a vehicle collision caused by another driver or a fall caused by a dangerous property condition. Let’s look at several all-too-common injuries that can be especially serious for seniors.
Hip fractures
As people age, their bones become frailer and easier to break. Even a ground-level fall can cause a serious fracture. Hip fractures, which often occur when someone falls on their side, can be particularly debilitating. Hip fractures often start people on a downward spiral due to decreased mobility, less independence and socialization and a sense of despair that can accelerate their physical and mental decline.
Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs)
TBIs are also common injuries in falls as well as vehicle crashes. Often, especially in falls, people will suffer fractures as well as a TBI.One reason TBIs can be more serious for seniors is that people’s brains shrink somewhat as they age. That means there’s more space between the brain and skull, which helps protect it. Among other complications, this can cause a subdural hematoma which results in bleeding within the brain.
Spinal cord injuries (SCIs)
Some three-quarters of SCIs in people who are 76 and older are caused by falls. Of course, SCIs can also result from collisions and other traumatic events. They can be more serious for seniors who are more likely than younger people to have pre-existing conditions that affect the spine.Older people generally require longer hospital stays for all these injuries, sometimes followed by time in a rehabilitation facility and continued physical therapy and other treatment. All of these injuries can be survivable, but it’s important to get early diagnosis and good medical care. This takes money. That’s why it’s crucial to seek compensation from the person(s) responsible. Don’t agree to a settlement, no matter how fair it may sound, until you’ve gotten experienced legal guidance to help ensure that you get the compensation to which you’re entitled.]]>On Behalf of Doehrman Buba Ringhttps://www.tortslaw.com/?p=479482024-03-08T19:49:29Z2024-03-08T19:49:29ZWhen you examine dashcam videos of semi-truck accidents, you’ll see an interesting trend. In many of these crashes, the driver presses the brakes but is unable to stop the vehicle in time.
For example, a truck driver could suddenly arrive at a construction zone where traffic has backed up unexpectedly. If they don’t stop in time, they could strike the rear vehicles and even cause a multi-car collision. This is also a common issue at red lights. If the truck does not have a big enough gap, the small passenger vehicles ahead of it can stop much more quickly and may be rear-ended by the semi-truck.
Longer stopping distances
One of the main reasons for this is that semi-trucks can weigh up to 80,000 pounds and have stopping distances of around 525 feet. By comparison, your average passenger car will weigh around 4,000 pounds and have a stopping distance of around 300 feet. So truck drivers who brake late, even by a split second, may find that it’s impossible for them to stop the car before causing a crash.This is why things like distracted driving, impaired driving and even fatigued driving are such issues for truck drivers. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration mandates that drivers can’t use handheld devices behind the wheel, for instance, so that they always have their eyes on the road.Unfortunately, truck drivers do sometimes still make mistakes and cause rear-end accidents that can have catastrophic consequences for people in much smaller passenger cars. If you or your family members have suffered severe injuries, you need to know if you have a right to compensation for medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, lost earning capacity and much more.]]>On Behalf of Doehrman Buba Ringhttps://www.tortslaw.com/?p=479462024-02-26T23:00:06Z2024-02-26T23:00:06ZVisitors track in dirt and precipitation
Most people brush and shake themselves off when they enter a building. Particularly if there has been snow or rain, people try not to track what they have on their coats, boots or shoes into the main part of the business. Their efforts to clean up in the entranceway often mean that water or snow melts could accumulate at a very high-traffic location in the business. Even during the warmer, dryer part of the year, dirt or sand brought in on the bottoms of people's shoes can create slipping hazards right at the entrance of a business.
Rugs can sometimes do more harm than good
The snow, rainwater and dirt tracked in by patrons and other visitors is a known safety hazard, and businesses sometimes try to account for that by installing large, absorbent rugs. In theory, rugs can hold moisture and trap dirt, keeping the floors nearby clean.
In practice, rugs may not receive the attention that they require when they become dirty or saturated with fluid. Other times, they can become tripping hazards because the business does not properly anchor the rugs, meaning that they move when people shuffle their feet on the rugs. Without regular maintenance, rugs can exacerbate the very risk factor that businesses intend to resolve by putting them down by the front door.
Patrons who slip and fall near entrances sometimes don't make it into a particular business to shop. However, they may need to make a point of notifying management about what just happened by the front door even as they prepare to leave. Reporting a slip-and-fall after it occurs may help someone hold the business accountable if they incur medical expenses or lost wages triggered by their slip-and-fall injuries.]]>On Behalf of Doehrman Buba Ringhttps://www.tortslaw.com/?p=479452024-02-22T19:22:39Z2024-02-22T19:22:39ZMaybe you’ve noticed your parents no longer want to go very far beyond the confines of their neighborhood after dark – or maybe you’ve started to experience a little trouble driving at night yourself. It’s not unusual, especially if you’re aging.
Older drivers often find themselves facing increased challenges on the road in low light or after dark, and there’s really very little that they can do about it because of the forces in play.
3 reasons aging presents challenges for mature drivers
Essentially, it’s all about the effects of aging on the eyes. Older drivers start having trouble seeing clearly in dim light or after dark because:
Their eyes are less sensitive to light: The photoreceptors that sense light diminish with age, so older people need more light to see clearly. In addition, their pupils don’t open as wide as they once did due to muscular changes in the eyes, which contributes to the problem with low light.
Their eyes adjust more slowly: Age also makes it harder for the human eye to adjust to sudden changes in light, so older drivers can be easily blinded by bright headlights and streetlights – and equally blinded if they turn off a brightly lit road onto a dim sidestreet.
They’re more prone to cataracts: Cataracts are a thin protein film on the lens of the eye, and they can grow quite slowly. Long before they cause true visual impairment, an older driver with cataracts may start to see “halos” around lights and have trouble seeing through the blur.
These are far from the only reasons that older drivers may struggle to drive safely after dark, but they’re probably the most inescapable. With that in mind, it always pays to be cautious if you’ve noticed problems with your own night vision. Limit your post-dark driving to areas you know well and necessary trips only.If you are in a wreck with an older driver through no fault of your own, it may be time to learn more about your options to recover your losses. ]]>On Behalf of Doehrman Buba Ringhttps://www.tortslaw.com/?p=479412024-02-12T18:07:44Z2024-02-12T18:07:44Zdelayed symptoms.
Internal bleeding
After a car crash, there may be no external bleeding or bruising. An individual may feel relatively fine other than the shock. Nonetheless, the adrenaline rush produced during a car accident may take some time to wear off. It can mask internal pain. Internal injuries to the organs can occur, particularly if the chest has suffered trauma during a crash.
The symptoms may not even be that painful. Internal injuries are often associated with numbness, tingling and lightheadedness. Internal injuries highlight why it’s so important to seek immediate medical attention after a crash. Sometimes, medical scans are the only way to spot these potentially life-threatening injuries.
Head trauma
If the skull is lacerated, then it bleeds a lot. Nonetheless, the brain is beneath the skull and it could still be damaged even if the outer layers of the head are not bleeding. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) symptoms can take days to show up, and bleeding can occur internally. All head injuries should be treated as medical emergencies, even if there is no external bleeding. Again, sometimes the only way to diagnose TBIs is by having medical scans.
If you have been injured because of the negligence of someone else, you should pursue financial compensation. Seeking more legal information will help you learn about your personal injury claim options.]]>On Behalf of Doehrman Buba Ringhttps://www.tortslaw.com/?p=479402024-01-28T03:37:26Z2024-01-28T03:37:26ZInsomnia
Being involved in a car accident is a traumatic event. Accordingly, one or more of your body's senses may be overstimulated, causing the brain to become flooded with neurochemicals, such as adrenaline. These neurochemicals can last some time before subsiding. Accordingly, you may have trouble sleeping (insomnia) and may experience nightmares and fatigue.
Another reason one may experience insomnia after a car accident is due to the increased risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some people re-experience the trauma of a car accident. They find it difficult to avoid thoughts of the collision and keep having flashbacks. This can significantly affect the quality of their sleep.
Hypersomnia
Hypersomnia is when someone has trouble staying awake. You may find yourself sleeping excessively or having chronic drowsiness despite getting enough hours of sleep at night.
While a TBI can cause insomnia, other severe injuries may result in the opposite effect. Additionally, since your body will be healing itself, you may be more tired than usual. This can lead to sleeping a little extra, which is normal. However, you should be concerned if you continue to be plagued by hypersomnia.
Sleep disorders are among the many problems that can occur after a crash that can have a negative effect on your life and need treatment. It’s important to consider all of your injuries and medical expenses necessary to treat them when seeking compensation from an at-fault driver.]]>On Behalf of Doehrman Buba Ringhttps://www.tortslaw.com/?p=479392024-01-23T11:23:28Z2024-01-23T11:23:28ZWhat constitutes negligent security?
Negligence is a legal term with a specific definition. Someone's behavior is negligent if a reasonable person would recognize that it causes unnecessary risk. Both intentional actions and the failure to act can constitute negligence. In negligent security cases, it is almost always the failure to properly secure a property that leads to a claim against a business or property owner. Criminals are often opportunistic and choose locations without bright lights, visible cameras or security professionals on staff when targeting others.
If a reasonable person would agree that installing a fence, putting up security cameras or hiring security professionals could have prevented predictable criminal activity at the property, then the individual hurt in a criminal incident may have grounds for a lawsuit.
Who is liable for negligent security?
Legal and financial liability for negligent security usually falls to either the company operating a business or the owner of a rental property. Either the individual personally harmed in a criminal incident or their surviving family members may have grounds for a premises liability lawsuit based on negligent security practices.
A business or property owner may have an insurance policy that can compensate those who bring a successful lawsuit over a negligent security issue. Learning more about premises liability and negligent security may help those recently affected by a crime at a public location or rental property.]]>On Behalf of Doehrman Buba Ringhttps://www.tortslaw.com/?p=479382024-01-13T17:00:00Z2024-01-13T17:00:00ZA car accident can leave people seriously injured. Millions of people suffer from cuts, bruises, head wounds and spine injuries. These injuries can sometimes heal with medical assistance and physical therapy.
However, most people don’t realize that they can suffer from a mental health ailment after car accidents called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Here’s what you should know:
How PTSD affects people differently
PTSD is a neurological disorder. Many people who have PTSD have gone through stressful times in their lives. For example, many people who have survived wars suffer from PTSD. People who have been in abusive relationships or had troubled upbringings can also suffer from PTSD. Even a sudden event such as a car accident often leaves people with PTSD. PTSD can affect people whether they are in major or minor car accidents. People suffering from PTSD can experience stress and depression. This often happens because people relive many of the memories that led to a traumatic event. As a result, many people avoid doing certain actions that might cause them to experience the traumatic event again. For people who have been in car accidents, that may mean avoiding the road where an accident happened, feeling anxious while driving or freezing up when making driving decisions. If a driver lost a close friend or relative in a car accident, the driver may never drive again.
How PTSD is treated
PTSD isn’t easily treated. Many people with PTSD live with anxiety and depression for a long time. Some people have to go through years of therapy before they can conquer their anxieties. However, therapy can be expensive and a victim's PTSD may affect them in a way that makes it impossible to move on. Victims may need to learn about their legal options when seeking help to recover from their car accidents. ]]>